By the early 1840s, nearly half of the Irish population, particularly the rural poor, depended almost entirely on the potato for sustenance. The Irish Potato Famine, which lasted from 1845 to 1849, led to the deaths of more than a million people from starvation or famine-related diseases. A watershed moment in Ireland’s demographic history, it also provoked a massive exodus, and the British government’s minimal relief efforts worsened Anglo-Irish relations. What caused the potato crop to fail? Discuss